Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the economy didn't collapse when my groceries went up from 275/week to over 400, gas up, utilities bezerk, 40-year high inflation, then think it would take another black swan event like march 2020.

This is my thought too. If a global pandemic was but a blip in the economy (and made so many people crazy revenge spenders - that I will never understand) then I think we can survive this.

The next pandemic will be in a time of no support from the government. We won't have to wear masks though.

I really think people want chaos and drama. They don't want safety, security and good health. They want to cry and watch people die from diseases and say it was God's plan. They want to feel deep sadness. They want to feel more deeply than they do. They want a tearjerker story to bring to church. They want the ability to.have mobs, be violent and die for causes. They are bored with work and safety. They don't like peace, health and prosperity. They are very, very bored and life has more meaning when there is a lot of drama and sides to choose. They want a creedo and a rebellion. Things are too good for the bored and sated.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the economy didn't collapse when my groceries went up from 275/week to over 400, gas up, utilities bezerk, 40-year high inflation, then think it would take another black swan event like march 2020.

This is my thought too. If a global pandemic was but a blip in the economy (and made so many people crazy revenge spenders - that I will never understand) then I think we can survive this.

The next pandemic will be in a time of no support from the government. We won't have to wear masks though.

Anonymous wrote:Stagflation. Trump is the new Jimmy Carter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stagflation. Trump is the new Jimmy Carter.

Trump is no Jimmy Carter, one of the most honorable Christians to ever serve in the White House.

Anonymous wrote:Stagflation. Trump is the new Jimmy Carter.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the economy didn't collapse when my groceries went up from 275/week to over 400, gas up, utilities bezerk, 40-year high inflation, then think it would take another black swan event like march 2020.

This is my thought too. If a global pandemic was but a blip in the economy (and made so many people crazy revenge spenders - that I will never understand) then I think we can survive this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've stopped vaccinating people in other countries like airplanes and boats don't exist.

We've stopped funding cancer research.

We are deporting our agricultural workers.

We are ignoring environmental catastrophe and getting rid of NOAA and FEMA.

We are alienating our allies.

All of these things have consequences. Life has been hard for all of humanity until the last 100 years and we have chosen to go back in time.

So tell me where you would cut $2 Trillion from? How do you suggest we get to a good budget situation? I don’t think you realize that we can’t continue on this trajectory.

I propose we don’t cut spending. I propose we tax billionaires more and raise the cap on Social Security. How about that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think the President, even this one, has that much to do with what the economy does.

1M+ Federal employees and all the contractors laid off will have an effect. This was an economy that was doing ok by most macroeconomic measures. Some tightening (cutting some weird provisions in the IRA) and trimming here and there, and he could have declared victory. This is going to be painful -- DC will be a company town that lost its main factory.

If that happens, then so be it. The US has a population of 340 million people. If 1 million people are laid off but life becomes drastically better for the other 339 million, that is a net benefit to society.

Horse-and-buggy operators did not do fare well following the invention of the automobile—that does not mean that it was a mistake to cease relying on them for transportation. The only difference is that Trump’s purge is likely to benefit us even more since the primary services that Feds currently provide us are grift and fraud to ensure they can continue to live in homes in North Arlington.

I appreciate a good analogy. But your horse and buggy one doesn’t fly. The horse and buggy operators weren’t all terminated or obsolete all at the same time. There was time for them to realize that they may need to look for a new job or a new way to make a living for their families. Flat out firing then of thousands of people all at once will not help the economy. The repercussions will take decades to repair.

Anonymous wrote:DOGE is just theater - just a way for Musk and the billionaires to destroy the federal government.

It was never about reducing the deficit. Look at the House budget resolution the GOP is offering - a $4 TRILLION increase in debt limit.

Tax cuts would cost $4.5T over 10 years.

https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BU/BU00/20250213/117894/BILLS-119NAih.pdf

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who has lived through the collapse of a democracy or studied that topic is very worried. Are they crazy or just better informed than you about the signs that institutions are failing and power is being dangerously ceded to one man with authoritarian tendencies?

A lot depends on if the executive still follows the courts. The legislative branch has shown no signs of being a check. They’ve been verbally threatening not to follow court orders for a few days. Threatening judges. Project 2025 says ignore the court rulings and proceed with your policies.

Are we crazy for taking them at their word? Where do other people find the confidence to believe they wouldn’t actually do it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've stopped vaccinating people in other countries like airplanes and boats don't exist.

We've stopped funding cancer research.

We are deporting our agricultural workers.

We are ignoring environmental catastrophe and getting rid of NOAA and FEMA.

We are alienating our allies.

All of these things have consequences. Life has been hard for all of humanity until the last 100 years and we have chosen to go back in time.

So tell me where you would cut $2 Trillion from? How do you suggest we get to a good budget situation? I don’t think you realize that we can’t continue on this trajectory.